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I had just asked a question on here about using wheelchairs for personal use/extra applications, even though I can walk and I received a number of rather disturbing answers concerning Mainstream attitude of wheelchairs.

I was not aware of any really negative stigmas toward PWD other than plain awkwardness.

What are some examples of societies negative attitudes toward PWD in wheelchairs? Your thoughts?

*Person with Disabilities = PWD, but I'm sure y'all knew that.
Misconception on my part: Aren't Gov't buildings made to be W/c accessible?

Also, There are many reasons one may be in a chair, should my default reaction be like I'm talking to my dad (respectfully) , except with a head tilt?

To chiliswoman: Very insightful, probably the Best Answer, but I wonder about #7 (preferential treatment). If those in wheelchairs seek the most normal life possible, why should they seek preferential treatment, or be offended when others complain about them getting it?
Well no, but when you're elderly, you can have a discount. It's kinda like a congrats for living that long.
I guess the preferential treatment could be justified like this:
"The reason for senior discounts is because of their age (age as a disability)"
Which would justify w/c reserved spots, like on the bus. Just like there is for elderly.

Then again, seniors don't cut in line.

My problem with preferential treatment is probably society's fault. Big Brother has been brainwashing me into thinking everyone is equal. ~
Oh, I just read PWD's response. I guess I can sympathize, but don't approve, or think that people are grumbling because you are in a w/c.

If I had been waiting in line for half an hour and ANYONE cut to the front, I'd be pissed.

P.S. PWD, I appreciate your answer on my last question concerning my use of a wheel chair. I have decided to still construct the chair, but use it in conjunction with an other project to make a semi-mobile chair-thing.
After reading yours and others answers, I figured the novelty of it would wear off fast.

I use a scooter and have not experienced all of the following, but I know others….

1. In a store with a high counter (like a deli counter at the grocery) you get ignored. SOMETIMES you are not seen, but SOMETIMES it is deliberate.

2. When you are traveling with a mob of people to get somewhere, people try to get in front of you and than stop - and then they complain that you don't know how to drive when you run into them. (This happens to me at outdoor concerts.)

3. People will not look at you when they talk to you - they look at the space over your head.

4. People will run ahead of you to get to the door first, but not hold it open for you so you can get through. Sometime they say "Sorry, I'm in a hurry."

5. People complain at bus stops when the lift has to be lowered to let a person with a chair on. They complain if they have to move out of a designated wheelchair tie down seat spot.

6. People complain about the number of disability designated parking spots at stores. (And snow plowers push snow into them so they are unusable.)

7. People complain about preferential treatment (like going to the head of a line or a discount).

8. Business owners complain about the accommodations they need to make so people in chairs can utilize their businesses. They claim no one in chairs shops here so why do I need it? How can we shop there if we can't get in?

9. Taxi drivers will not pick you up - even if you can transfer out of your chair and your chair can fold up.

10. People treat you like you are a child when you are an adult. Or they shout at you when you can hear just fine.

11. People think kids in wheelchairs are either "so cute" or it is "so sad" —- it's life!

12. People jokingly say — slow down, there's a speed limit in here (like at a mall). I hear this so much, it has stopped being funny.

13. People say - that looks like fun - where can I get one? (It is not used for fun.)

14. People think that living on Social Security benefits when you are a chair-user is because you are lazy and like living on the gravy train.

15. People think that people who are chair users should not have children. They think using a chair prevents a person from being able to provide discipline and safety.

16. Restaurants are sometimes "full" when you arrive, but they aren't full when the next group of people arrive.

17. Landlords refuse to rent to you - citing the possibility of your chair blowing up, or your wheels damaging their floors.

18. Health insurance companies refuse to sell you health policies and/or to cover anything related to your chair use.

19. Schools refuse to make physical changes because of parents of children who have disabilities- claiming that the school only needs to be accessible if there is a disabled child. (Not true by law.)

20. Polling sites are often inaccessible to people with disabilities and have no means for a person using a chair to vote independently.

21. Many govt buildings - like post offices and city halls are historical buildings and are inaccessible to people in chairs. Sometimes no alternative mean to access what you need exists.

22. The only kind of car you can buy are vans if you want to retain your independence. No one makes a smaller car suitable for only 1 or 2 people. So you are either dependent on someone else to always help you - or you get a van that is bigger than what you need and costs much more than you want to spend.

23. People build houses we can not get into. For years there has been an attempt to pass a law to make all homes visitable - one level entry to get into, and one accessible bathroom. If you are not a chair-user and you want to visit a friend, you just go - often times it is impossible for a chair user to visit a friend because the only way to get into their house is using stairs. When the law is discussed - people think visitability should be optional - our disabilities are not optional.

24. Some airlines have refused to let chair users fly alone. They damage your wheelchair when they transport it and think it is no big deal for you to go without it for a few day (often weeks) without it. This is especially nice when you go on vacation and can't do anything because your chair is broken.

25. You can book a train trip that has a component that is a connector bus. The train is accessible, but the bus might not be. You have to tell them 48 hours in advance that you need the bus to be accessible, but it is not a guarantee. And then when you are stranded in a small town overnight (because they didn't get the accessible bus), with no accessible transportation, and no accessible hotel rooms - they think it is not their fault and you should have planned better.

26. Reserve an accessible hotel room, only to find they forgot. An inaccessible room in not an adequate substitute and we do not need to be glad that we got a room at all. We are not a pain in the ass person in a wheelchair (overheard in their phone conversation) when we demand you find us an accessible room at another hotel and YOU pay the difference in hotel costs - we are simply demanding our rights under the law.

27. Doctors think are lives are not worth living - so hospitals sometimes refuse to provide us the aggressive care others get.

That's a start….I'm sure if I gave it time I could think of others.

ETA: No govt buildings by law are accessible, but often are not until someone wages a lawsuit.

Look a person in a chair in the eye - like you would anyone. Find a seat and sit at their level, stoop, kneel, or yes like you speak to your father (who must be shorter than you.)

As to #7 - it is often to get us out of the way quicker or safer. Or to compensate us for the diminished experience we will have because of access problems. Do you begrudge senior discounts?